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(2    "S-U-  CU^     hh^^<^<ijL 

[House  Bill,  No.  14.] 

HOUSE,  September  29,  1862.— Read  the  first  ami  second  times, 
made  the  Special  Order  for  Wednesday,  1st  October,  and  ordered  to  be 
printed. 

[By  M)-.  Ci..\pr.] 


A_   BILL 

To  be  entitled  "  An  Act,  to  provide  for  tlie  Rojiioval  or  De- 
struction of  Property  in  certain  cases,  and  to  perpetuate 
the  Testimony  as  to  the  value  of  Propeity  Destroyed  or 
Injured,  during  thepending  war." 

1  •  Section  1 .   Tke  Co7io;resf<  of  fJir  Confederate  States  of 

2  America  do  enact,  That  wiienever  a  Commanding  Officei- 
o     of  the  Confederate    Army  shall   have    rea.son  to  beheve 

4  that  there  is,  or  may  be,  within  the  limits  of  his  military 

5  jurisdiction,  cotton,  tobacco,  or  other  produce  or  proper- 
G     ty  belonging  to  a  citizen   or  citizens  of  the  Confederate 

7  States,  which  would    be  useful  to  the  enemy,  or  aid  him 

8  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war,  by  the  convereioii  of  the 

9  same  into  money,  or  otherwise,  and   which  is  in  danoer 
10  of  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy  ;  or  when  it  shall 


11  appear  to  said  Commanding  Oflicer  that  property  of  the 

12  description  aforesaid,  is  about  being  brought  within  the 

13  said  Hmits,  it  shall  be  his  duty,  forthwith,  to  give  notice, 

14  by  publication,  in  one  or  more  newspapers,  within  such 

15  limits,  or   in   some   other  public  manner,   requiring  the 

16  owner,  or  owners  of  such  property,  as  shall  be  designat- 

17  ed  in  said  notice,  to  remove  the   same   without  delay,  if 

18  its  removal  be  practicable,    to  some   place  beyond    the 

19  probable  reach  of  the  enemy. 

1  Sec.  2.  If  any  person  shall,  after  notice  given  as  afore- 

2  said,  knowingly  import,  or  introduce  w^ithin  the  limits 

3  thereby  prohibited,  property  of  the   kind  mentioned  in 

4  said  notice,  or  having  such  property  within  such  limits 

6  which  is  susceptible  of  removal,  shall  willfully  fail  or  re- 
G  fuse  to  remove  the  same,  as  soon  thereafter  as  may  be, 

7  such  person  or  persons,  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  an  of- 

8  fence  against  the  Confederate  States,  and  upon  cohvic- 
■  9  tion  thereof,  before  any  Court  of  the  Confederate  States 

10  having  jurisdiction,  shall  be  fined  in  a  sum  not  less  than 

11  dollars,  or  be  imprisoned  for  a  period  of  not 

12  less  than  ,  or  may,  at  the  discretion  of  the 

13  Court,  be  subjected  to  both  fine  and  imprisonment ;  nnd 


3  ^'^'^ 

1 4  ill  addition  to  the  penalties  aforesaid,  the  right  and  title     4-3 

15  to  the  property  aforesaid,  shall  be  deemed  forfeited,  and 

16  the  Commanding  Officer  aforesaid,  shall  cause  the  same 

17  to  be   destroyed,  or,  if  deemed  of  sufficient  value,  may 

18  order  its  removal  to  some  place  of  safety,  at  the  expense 

19  of  the   Government  of  the  Confederate  States  ;  and  it 

20  sh.all  be   the  duty   of  the   Marshals  of  the   Confederate 

21  States,  or  receivers  of  the  sequestration  fund,  withm  the 

# 

22  judicial  district,  where  such  property  may  be,  or  to  which 

23  it  may  be  removed,  to  take  charge  of,  and  preserve  the 

24  same,  and  upon  the  trial  and  conviction  of  the  offender, 

25  as  herein  above  provided,  or  liis   failure  to  appear,  after 

26  notice    served,    or   publication   made,    according  to  the 
•27  practice   of  the   Court,  having  jurisdiction,   such   Court  - 

28  shall  order  said   property  to   be   sold,  and   the  proceeds 

29  thereof,  after  deducting  the   expenses  incident   to   the 

30  removal,  preservation  and  sale  of  the  same,  shall  be  ac- 

31  counted  for  by  the  receiver  of  the  district,  in  like  man- 
"     32  ner  as  he  is  required  to  account  for  other  monies  coming 

33  to  his  hands. 

1  Sec.  3.  If  upon  the  trial  of  any  cause,  as  provided  in 

2  the  preceding  section  of  this  Act,  the  defendant  shall  be 


4 

3  r.cquittcfl  upon  the  merits,  ii])oii  proof  being  made  to  the 

4  satisfaction  of  the   Court,  that  said  defendant  is  a  loyal 

5  citizen  of  the  Confederate   States,  the  Court  shall  order 
"6  the  property  belonging  to  said  defendant,  which  may  be 

7  witiiin  its  control,  to  be  delivered  to  him,  by  the  receiv- 

8  er  having  it  in  charge,  upon  the  payment  of  all  costs  and 

9  expenses  incurred  in  the    removal  and  custody    of  the 
10  same. 

1  Sec.  4.  In  all  cases  where  tlie  property  of  a  citizen  of 

2  the  Confederate  States  shall  be  destroyed  by  the  militai-y 

3  authorities  to    prevent  the  same    from  Mling  into  the 

4  hands  of  the  enemy,  except  where  the  inuninence  of  tiie 

5  danger  shall  not,  in  the  opinion  of  said  military  authori- 

6  ties,  admit  of  the  delay,  it  shall  be  the  duty  cf  the  ofHcer 

7  by  whose  order  such  property  is  destroyed,  to  give  writ* 

8  ten  notice,  if  practicable,  to  the  person   having  the  con- 

9  trol  of  the  same,  of  its  intended  destruction  ;  and  if 
10  there  be  no  such  person  upon  whom  service  of  such  no- 
il tice  can  be  conveniently  executed,  or  if  the  i)erson  noti- 
12  fied,  fail  to  attend,  and  take  proof  of  the  value  of  said 
1 .3  property,  in  the  manner  hereinafter  provided,  then  the 
14  military  officer  aforesaid,  before  proceeding  to  destroy 


• 

5 

15'  the  same,  shall  cause  it  to   be  examined  and   valued  by 

16  two  or  more  competent  and  disinterested  persons,  under 

IT  oath — which  oath  the  said   officer  may,  himself  adminis- 

18  ter — and  the  said   valuers  shall   report  to  said  officer,  in 

19  writing,  as  to  the  description  and  value  of  said  property, 

20  to  which  report  the   said  officer  shall  ;ippend  his  certifi- 

21  cate  as  to  the  competence  and  credibility  of  the  valuers, 

22  to  })e  forwarded  to  the   office  of  the   Sccretaiy  of  State, 

23  as  hereinafter  directed. 

1  Sec.  ^.  The  owner  or  ])erson  having  the  control  of  pro- 

2  perty   falling   within  the  purview  of  this  Act,   may  de- 

3  stroy  the  same  to  prevent  its  falling  into  the  hands  of  the 

4  enemy,  and  shall  have   the   same  right  to  compensation 

5  therefor  as  if  such  destruction  were  by  order  of  the  mili- 

6  tary  authorities,  but  such  owner  or  the  person  having  the 

7  control  of  said  propert3^  shall,  before  the  destruction  of  the 

8  same,  unless  the  danger  be  too  imminent  to  admit  of  the 

9  delay,  make  affidavit  before  some  Judge  or  Commissioner 

10  of  a  Confederate  Court,  or  before  a  Notary  Public,  Jus- 

11  tice  of  the  Peace,  or  some  officer  authorized  by  the  law 

12  of  his  State   to  administer  oaths,  of  his  inability  to  re- 
1  o  move  the  same,  stating  the  cause  of  such  inability,  and 


14  setting  forth  ji   description    of  t^ucli   i)roperty.  and  of  its 

15  supposed  value,  and   the  Judge  or  other  officer,  before 
IG  whom  such  affidavit^is  made,  shall  forthwith  summon  two 

17  or  more  disinterested  persons   to  inspect  and  assess  the 

18  value  of  such  propert}',  who  shall  return,  under  oath,  to 

19  such  Judge  or  other  officer,  a  schedule  of  said  property, 

20  with  their  valuation  of  the  same,  each  one  giving  his  own 

21  estimate  where  they  cannot  agree  as  to  values,  and  they 

22  shall  also  certify  their  opinion  as  to  the  necessity  for  the 

23  destruction  of  said  property  to  prevent  its  filling  into  the 

24  hands  of  the   enemy  and  the   impracticability  of  its  re- 

25  moval  })y  the  owner,  and  that  said  owner  is  a  loyal  citi- 
20  zen  of  the  Confederate  States.     The  said  Judge  or  other 

27  officer  to  whom  said  report  is  made  shall  certify  as  to  the 

28  competency  and  credibility  of  the  said  valuers,  and  when 

29  not  a  Judge  or  Commissioner  of  a  Confedsrate   Court, 

30  his  official  character  or  authority  to  administer  oaths  shall 

31  be  verilied  by  the  certificate,  under  his  seal  of  office,  of 

32  the  clerk  of  some   court  of  record  of  the  city  or  county 

33  wherein  the  property  was  situated,  or  where  such  Judge 

34  or  other  officer  may  reside. 

1        Sec.  6.  "When  for  sufficient  cause,  to  be  set  forth  in 


t 

2  tlie  alTiclavit  of  the  owner  or  ]iersou  having'  the  control  of 

3  property  destroyed  undei'  the   provisions  of  tliis  or  any 

4  other  Act  of  (.'ongress  heVetofore  passed,  the  proceedings 

5  lierein  above  provided  for  to  perpetuate  testimony,  can- 
G  not  be  liad  previous  to  the  destruction  of  tlie  same,  it  shall 

7  be  lawful  to  institute  pi'oceedings  for  that  purpose,  as  near 

8  as  may  be  in  conformity  with  the  provisions  of  this  Act, 

9  as  soon  after  said  destruction  has  occurred  as  the  nature 
.10  of  the  case  will  admit,  and  like  proceedings  may  be  had 

11  when  such  property  has  been  injured  but  not  destroyed, 

12  as  to  the   nature  and  extent  of  the  damage  necessarily 

13  sustained  by  the  owner  of  the  property  so  injured  ;  and 

14  the  provisions  of  this  Act  as  to  the   mode  of  taking  and 

15  perpetuating  testimony  shall  apply  as  far  as  applicable  to 
10  all  cases  of  claims  against  the  government  of  the  Con- 
17  federate  States  where  no  other  method  is  provided  by  law. 

1  Sec.  7.  The  proof  taken   under  the  provisions  of  this 

2  Act,  and  all  the  papers  relating  thereto,  shall  be  trans- 

3  mitted  by  the' officers  or  other  persons  taking  cognizance 

4  of  cases  arising  under  this  Act  to  the  Attorney  General 

5  of  the   Confederate   States  within   thirty  days  after  the 

6  case  to  wiiich  such  papers  refer  is  disposed  of,  lo  be  filed 


8 

7  among   the  archives  of  the  State    Department   until  a 

8  court  of  claims  shall   he  organized,  when  they  shall   be 

9  delivered  to  the  clerk  of  said  court,  who  shall  take  charge 

10  thereof,  and   enter  each  case   upon  the  •  docket  of  said 

11  court  in   the  order  of  its  priority  in  date.     But  nothing 

12  in  this  Act  shall  be  so  construed  as  to  imply  an  assump- 

13  tiun  of  liability  on  the  part  of  the  Confederate  States  for 

14  the  pa3'ment  or  satisfaction  of  said  claims,  otherwise  than 

15  as  provided    for  by  an   Act  of  the  Congress  of  the  Con- 
IC  federate   States,   approved  August  30th,  1861,  and   en- 

17  titled  "  Ail  Act  to  perpetuate  testimony  in  cases  of  slaves 

18  abducted  or  harbored   l)y  the  enemy,  and   of  other  pro- 

19  perty  seized,  wasted  or  destroyed  by  them." 


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